3 It was the Moon
by Southofoz
Summary: this is a vignett and takes place at the end of the episode 'Brothers'


4

**THE TUNNEL CHRONICLES**

**IT WAS THE MOON**

**By Southofoz**

**Summary – **this is a classic vignette and takes place at the end of Brothers - rated K

Authors Note; Poem 'Song to the Moon' by Sir Walter Scott

_Hail to thy cold clouded beam_

_Pale pilgrim of the troubled sky!_

_Hail, though the mist o'er thee stream_

_Lend to thy brow thy sullen dye!_

_How should thy pure and peaceful eye_

_Untroubled view our scene below,_

_Or how a tearless beam supply_

_To light a world of war and woe!_

Vincent stood transfixed … the lights from the city … the smell of the grass and flowering trees, the pungent odor of the traffic passing by, all assailed his senses with the power of the air rushing through the Chamber of the Winds.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up.

"C'mon, we have to get away from the trees to see it," Devin said, and he ran up the hill, away from the culvert, away from safety; but Vincent, too excited to take heed of his fears, ran after his brother.

And then he saw it, high in the sky, a ball of golden light, hovering like one of Sebastian's magical trinkets in the black blanket of night, but much larger, with nothing to hold it there.

Suddenly, there was a sound in his ears and the feel of something rushing by him. He turned just in time to see something grey and shiny speed past, and he turned toward it without thinking.

Then time slowed, and he saw a face pressed up against the window of a car. Wide green eyes, a heart shaped face and long golden hair. A little girl, no older than he, stared back at him, and for the first time in his life he knew what it was like to be seen by eyes that had never seen him before.

As he watched, her face crinkled with distress and her wide eyes began to fill with tears. The pain within him was more than he could stand, and his heart broke.

He ran through the park to the culvert and the safety of the tunnels, determined never to leave their safety again.

*******

In the back seat of the car, the little girl began to cry. Her mother turned in her seat.

"What is it, honey?"

"Mommy, I saw a boy."

"Why are you crying? Was he hurt? Did he frighten you?" her mother, asked trying to save her sensitive and caring daughter from the realities of the city streets.

"No, but he was all alone."

Her father, behind the wheel, tried to calm her and keep her from what he thought was the truth. "Its okay, honey," he said. "His mommy and daddy were probably nearby. No one would leave their little boy alone in the park."

"But he had no mommy or daddy!" cried the little girl. "He couldn't have. He was so… Alone!"

"Oh Cathy, honey," her father said with a shake of his head. "Everyone has a mommy and daddy."

Cathy knew that her father was wrong, but she also knew she couldn't convince him or her mother. The boy she had seen was …different – so different that there could be no one like him. So she began to cry again, softly this time, so her parents wouldn't become concerned. As the park faded into the distance, she wondered what it would be like to meet a boy like him. She would like to be his friend and maybe make that sad look in his eyes go away.

_Fair Queen! I will not blame thee now,_

_As once by Greta's fairy side_

_Each little cloud that dimm'd thy brow,_

_Did then an angel's beauty hide_

_And of the shades I then could chide_

_Still are the thoughts to memory dear_

_For while a softer strain I tried,_

_They hid my blush and calm'd my fear._

_******_

The moon was full the night Vincent found Catherine, and in its light he carried her to his chamber, to a life that would be changed forever.

From the safety of her balcony, he and Catherine would watch that same moon set over the city.

******

After Devin and Charles made their way out of the culvert, Catherine and Vincent stood in each other's arms. Catherine looked up at him, love and realisation glowing in her eyes.

"When you first saw the moon …"

He looked down at her, his eyes full of love. "Yes, Catherine."

"And you saw that little girl."

He smiled knowing what was coming. "Yes …"

"She wasn't crying because of how you looked, you know?"

"I know," he said, his voice a deep purr.

"But you said…"

"I said I was hurt then. A child's hurt, full of uncertainties and unsure of the feelings flowing through me. But I am no longer a child."

"So you know why she was crying?"

"Yes. I know why …You … cried, Catherine."

"You know? You knew it was me? I didn't even remember until I heard you telling that story to Charles."

"I have known since the first moment I looked into your eyes, Catherine – that little girl, and the woman I had brought to the Tunnels, were one and the same."

"Then why didn't you say anything before?" She sounded angry, but there was love and excitement flowing between them.

"Because, as you just said, you had forgotten, and I didn't want to be the one to remind you. You had to find the truth for yourself."

"What truth?"

"That it was the moon that brought us together, Catherine. If I had not gone with Devin to see the moon that night, I would never have begun to search the city, and I would never have found you."

"It was the moon that brought us together," Catherine whispered, laying her cheek on his chest.

"Yes, it was the moon."

And as two lovers embraced in the tunnels under Central Park, the moon shone over the city above them, full, bright and magical.

_Then did I swear thy ray serene_

_Was formed to light some lonely dell,_

_By two fond lovers only seen,_

_Reflected from the crystal well,_

_Or sleeping on their mossy cell_

_Or quivering on the lattice bright_

_Or glancing on their couch, to tell_

_How swiftly wanes the summer night_


End file.
